Intel Pentium 4 HT & ATI Radeon HD 3870

[vaio-fx]

I know that this isnt the perfect combination and that this Pentium will limit the card's power, but this only temporary. My question is, does the Radeon HD 3870 work with a Pentium 4 HT 3.7 ghz (which I will try to further overclock once I get some faster ram). I just need to know if they will be compatible with one another and if it will hold out until I can afford a new CPU. Thanks.

 

[ssc456]

they will be compatible but as you pointed out it will bottlekneck an extreme amount.

 

[vaio-fx]

well even with this decrease, will it be better than my current GeForce 7300GT?

 

[Cabbs]

It should be. 7300's aren't anything amazing I don't think. How much are you looking to spend on a graphics card? 9600GT's are out and you can get them for $190.

 

[vaio-fx]

I found a HD 3870 for £120, I was looking at a 9600GT, but I would prefer to go for the HD 3870 even if it is a little bit worse. I plan to upgrade to a Wolfdale later on too.

 

[Cabbs]

Wofldale's are great, I have mine running 3.78 Ghz on 1.25 vcore.

 

[worshipme]

I found a HD 3870 for £120, I was looking at a 9600GT, but I would prefer to go for the HD 3870 even if it is a little bit worse. I plan to upgrade to a Wolfdale later on too.

That's a great price, don't miss it. And the HD 3870 is actually a bit more powerful than the 9600GT. I recommend you wait a bit for the Wolfdale prices to settle though.

 

[Cabbs]

For the most part, the 9600GT will outperform it.

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/gigabyte_hd3870/6.html

 

[worshipme]

With 0xAA the HD 3870 mostly comes out on top. I think this review is a bit clearer with the benchmarks: http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/21/nvidia_geforce_9600_gt/page12.html

 

[Cabbs]

It's not too big of a difference. At that point I would go with whatever is cheaper.